# Teacher Tips: How to Create a Great Home Communication Book

March 7, 2023

Communication between home and school is essential to student success, especially for students with disabilities. In [**The Special Educator’s Toolkit,**](https://products.brookespublishing.com/The-Special-Educators-Toolkit-P415.aspx) Cindy Golden—a special educator, administrator, and psychologist with almost 30 years of experience—shares some great tips on creating a home communication book, including instructions specific to students with significant support needs.

**Regular communication with a student’s parents is the best way to stay on top of important developments and avert miscommunication.** Whether you communicate with families on a daily basis for younger students or on a weekly basis for more independent high school students, communication is important.

Home communication books are a great tool for keeping in touch with families. These can be as simple as a spiral notebook, a teacher-made homework agenda, or one purchased from the school store. This type would be especially useful for an older student who is functioning with more independence.

### Step 1
To start your communication book, get a three-ring binder that has pockets on the front and back cover. Personalize the binder with a copy of your school’s photo on the front and the student’s name and school year. Create a social story for your student that provides an easy-to-remember explanation of the communication book (see below for an example). Laminate the social story, punch holes in it, and place it as the first page.

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### Step 2
The front section of your communication book will be interactive for both students and parents and is a great teaching tool for functional skills. This section could include the following types of pages:

- **All About Home:** This gives students a way of communicating activities they did at home the night before.
- **All About School:** This serves as communication prompts for describing the activities of the school day.
- **All About Me:** This can be used in the morning group session or at the beginning of the day to help the students generalize and practice basic functional skills.

Make sure you create your own pages that are specific to the needs of your students. For students who need communication supports, you can laminate the pages and place Velcro tape on the page so that picture symbols or photos can be used.

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### Step 3
Next, include paper copies of a form you create to communicate back and forth with parents. Be creative about the type of form you use and make it simple for both you and the parents.

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This type of home communication book can serve multiple purposes:

- Ensure communication to the parent from the teacher
- Encourage communication back to the teacher from the parent
- Enhance the student’s basic functional skills
- Elicit communication to parents about school activities
- Elicit communication to teachers about activities the students did at home the night before

Use the tips and the free download linked above to get started with your home communication book —and pick up [**The Special Educator’s Toolkit**](https://products.brookespublishing.com/The-Special-Educators-Toolkit-P415.aspx) for comprehensive guidance on how to organize, manage, and monitor your classroom.

**Free Download!**
**[Get three printable pages you can use to start your own home communication notebook.](https://blog.brookespublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Home-Communication-Book-Download.pdf)**

### The Special Educator's Toolkit
Everything You Need to Organize, Manage, and Monitor Your Classroom

By Cindy Golden, Ed.D.

Overwhelmed special educators: Reduce your stress and support student success with this practical toolkit for whole-classroom organization. A lifesaver for special educators in any K–12 setting, this book-and-CD set will help teachers expertly manage everything, from schedules to student supports and behavior plans.